CHICAGO — The groom is being sought in the stabbing death of his young bride hours after their marriage — his new wife’s body found in a bathtub in the silver sequin cocktail dress she wore at her wedding reception and possibly at the wedding itself, police said Tuesday.

The manhunt continued for 30-year-old Arnoldo Jimenez, who is wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in the slaying of Estrella Carrera, 26, shortly after they celebrated their marriage with friends, said police in the Chicago suburb of Burbank.

“It was a very brutal killing,” Capt. Joseph Ford of the Burbank Police Department told The Associated Press later Tuesday. “We do our jobs every day, of course. But something like this really motivates you to work even harder.”

It is possible that Carrera was also wed in the short, shimmering dress in which she was killed, Ford said.

After they were married Friday afternoon at Chicago’s City Hall, the couple had dinner with friends at a restaurant, then headed to a nightclub in a party limousine. They were last seen at 4 a.m. Saturday, and Carrera’s body was found in her Burbank apartment Sunday.

AP Photo/Burbank Police DepartmentThis surveillance photo taken Friday, May 11, 2012 and provided by the Burbank Police Department, shows Estrella Carrera, 26, of Burbank, Ill., walking out of a restaurant during her wedding celebration.

The 6-foot, 220-pound Jimenez was last known to be driving a 2006 black Maserati. Since the killing likely took place just hours after the couple went to her Burbank apartment, the suspect had a day to flee the metropolitan area or even the state, Ford said.

Carrera, the mother of a 2-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter, told nearly no one in advance about her plans to marry, inviting a few friends out Friday without saying what she was celebrating, her relatives said. Her body was found after family members became worried they had not heard from her and called police.

Some of those familiar with the couple said there had been incidents of violence during their two years dating, Ford said. But he added that authorities hadn’t found any records indicating Carrera ever filed a complaint against Jimenez.

“And we have no indications the two were arguing at any time during the (Friday and early Saturday) celebration,” Ford said.

Carrera’s family and acquaintances were struggling to comprehend how such a tragedy could happen during what should have been among the happiest days of the couple’s lives.

“You see this sort of thing in the movies. You never expect it to happen next door,” one of her neighbours, David Raska, said before police named Jimenez as a suspect.

Carrera’s cousins also were shocked.

“We never thought this would happen,” said 27-year-old Jaime Lopez. “Reality still hasn’t hit me.”

Carerra called another cousin, Sandy Lopez, inviting her to the party but saying nothing about a wedding.

“She didn’t want to tell me she had gotten married,” she said. “She didn’t tell anybody besides her father the day before.” She told NBC 5 Chicago news that Carrera and her new husband had an on-again, off-again relationship.

The cousins, neither of whom could make it to the Friday party, said Carrera worked as a Spanish-language translator, and they described her as a fiercely independent woman who adored her kids.

“She was a beautiful mother, person, sister,” Sandy Lopez said.

Relatives became concerned when Carrera didn’t pick up her children on Saturday at her father’s, who had been watching his grandchildren while his daughter was celebrating. Police found her body Sunday afternoon during a well-being check.

Another neighbour in Burbank, Jason Tokarczyk, said Carrera had lived in her apartment for the past several months and would greet him coming and going, but otherwise said little.

“She was quiet as a mouse,” he said.

Neighbour Jim Olinger said he had seen Jimenez at his wife-to-be’s apartment last week and that he “seemed like a really nice guy.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/manhunt-continues-for-groom-accused-of-murdering-his-bride-on-their-wedding-night/feed2stdwedding_crimeThis surveillance photo taken Friday, May 11, 2012 and provided by the Burbank Police Department, shows Estrella Carrera, 26, of Burbank, Ill., walking out of a restaurant during her wedding celebration. Q&A: Bride, groom went on with wedding as Nova Scotia lodge burned downhttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/qa-bride-groom-went-on-with-wedding-as-nova-scotia-lodge-burned-down
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/qa-bride-groom-went-on-with-wedding-as-nova-scotia-lodge-burned-down#commentsTue, 15 Nov 2011 11:30:28 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=109342

People often pray for sunny weather on their wedding day. In hindsight, Nancy and Michael Rogers should have pined for rain. The historic lodge near, Liverpool, N.S., where they were to be married, White Point Beach Resort, was consumed by flames minutes before their ceremony was set to begin. But even a massive fire is no match for true love. The Post’s Joe O’Connor caught up with the bride Monday night:

Q: How were the pre-wedding nerves on Saturday morning? A: Well, we have both been married before. My biggest concern was that I didn’t want to trip walking down the aisle or make a mistake with my vows.

Q: So, you were focused. A: Oh yes. We were staying in a cabin near the main lodge. My mom and I ordered room service. I had French toast with bacon. Mom had an omelette. We were drinking mimosas.

Q: When did you find out that your perfect wedding day was about to go up in smoke, so to speak? A: While the girls were lacing up the back of my dress.

Q: Did you go with a white gown for your second wedding? A: It was pink, or fuchsia actually, with a white bolero.

Q: Back to the fire. A: Right. Michael’s mom knocked on the door. She had an awful look on her face. Karen, from White Point Beach Resort, was there to see me and she also had a horrible look on her face. She told me there was a fire at the main lodge.

Q: Could you see any flames? A: No, just a whole lot of dark smoke, and you kept hearing the sirens of the fire trucks in the background. So we were thinking that at any minute they’d have things under control. It wasn’t until we had another knock on the door and the police were there to evacuate us that we went: Uh-oh.

Q: Where was the groom? A: Getting the reception room ready. It was at the back of the main lodge, with gorgeous ocean views. Everything was in black linens, with pink runners. Our menu was supposed to be a buffet dinner with smoked mackerel, mussels, three bean salad, pasta salad and then, for the main course, planked salmon, roast beef, garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables. The wedding cake was a gorgeous dark pink, light pink and white cake. I’d only peeked at it under the corner of the box, so I hadn’t had a good look.

Q: Everything was ready. A: I am a details person, and all of it was lost. But the staff at White Point, I haven’t been able to say enough about how good they were to us. They moved us to Lakeside Hall, on the other side of the resort. They made our wedding happen.

Q: It might be the one wedding where you should have prayed for rain? A: Our wedding photographer had been teasing us for weeks that he had never shot a wedding where it rained. At some point he said: “Don’t you wish it was raining?”

Q: There is a wedding photo with the happy couple in the foreground and the fire in the background. Will that end up in a drawer or on the mantelpiece? A: We will display it. We have some very unusual pictures. At one point the cops were wandering around and they said they had the perfect photo. They handcuffed us together — and gave Michael a baton.

Q: That’s a little racy. A: No matter how the day turned out we just wanted to embrace it all. We’ve also got a picture of us beside a lake, on a beautiful wooden bench, and a picture of us in front of a fire truck.